OPEN & SHUT CASE
The Buttler did it in India, but he won’t break up top of the order for England
JOS BUTTLER has told a relieved Alex Hales and Jason Roy he will leave England opening duties to them.
The wicket-keeper has joined his team-mates on a trip to Spain after a second stint at the IPL for the Mumbai Indians.
And it was in India where Buttler was turned into an opener by coach Mahela Jayawardene because he had too many middle-order dashers to fit into the side.
A top score of 77 and six scores out of 10 over 25 suggests the Sri Lanka legend was right, but Roy and Hales can rest easy as he will return to the middle order for England.
“It was a brilliant experience again,” said Buttler. “I batted at the top of the order, which was something new and exciting.
“But I don’t know if opening is something I see myself doing long-term. My best role is probably still accelerating and finishing the innings towards the end.
“I didn’t expect it when I arrived in India, but I spoke to Mahela and his idea was to use me at the start of the innings because he had Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers in the middle order.
“He wanted to use me at a different stage to go and play with some freedom and I think by and large it worked pretty well.
“I’m still young and at this time in my career to do something completely different was an interesting challenge.
“It can always go better, I feel like I could have scored more runs because I got off to some good starts. I would love to have kicked on a few more times, but overall it went pretty well.”
Despite worries that the IPL trio of Buttler, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes may be tired before the English summer has even arrived, the 26-yearold reckons the tournament has helped him.
He added: “I really enjoyed the role and it’s a good development step for me as a player. Hopefully I can be a better player from the whole experience – starting this summer with England.”
English cricket chiefs are watching the pay dispute in Australia with interest ahead of their own new TV deal and negotiations over player contracts due for renewal in 2019.
Players’ union boss at the PCA, David Leatherdale, said: “If there is a significant uplift in value from the new deal, which expectations are that there will be, we would expect an uplift across the game to support players playing for England or domestically.”